VietNamNet Bridge – On December 25, the Centre for Conservation of Ho Dynasty Citadel World Heritage said that the center staff had discovered an ancient quarry located near Xuan Dai mountains, about 5km to the south of the Ho Dynasty Citadel.

Based on the remaining square stones left at the foot of Xuan Dai Mountains, in Vinh Ninh commune, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province, experts said that this is the place where Ho Quy Ly’s soldiers processed rocks to build the Ho Dynasty Citadel more than 600 years ago.

At present, 16 stones that look similarly to the ones that were used to build the Ho Dynasty Citadel, a world heritage site, are at the foot of the mountains. These rocks, weighing tens of tons each, were processed fairly sophisticated, with smooth surface.

Xuan Dai are the limestone mountains that were formed in the Triassic (about 250 to 200 million years ago,) with an average elevation of over 100m, divided into strata that is very convenient for manual processing.

In addition, at the eastern slopes of Xuan Dai Mountains, there are also a lot of rocks, which do no have traces of being processed but they are on a pretty square shape and balance size.

According to experts, these stones were manipulated by workers of the Ho Dynasty and taken down to the mountain foot for processing to build the Ho Dynasty Citadel.

"The discovery of the ancient quarry in the Xuan Dai Mountains is of great significance in terms of practical and scientific aspects. It proves that to build the citadel, the Ho Dynasty raised an enormous amount of human and material resources," said Nguyen Xuan Toan, deputy director of the Center for Conservation of Ho Dynasty Citadel World Heritage.

Earlier, during the excavations at the ancient quarry in An Ton Mountains in Vinh Yen commune, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province in late 2011, the Institute of Archaeology unearthed the foundation of the camps, where workers lived during mining and processing stones to build the Ho Dynasty Citadel.

Photo: VNE

The Ho Dynasty Citadel is located on the two communes of Vinh Tien and Vinh Long, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province. This is a unique architectural work in Vietnam. Being built in 1397 by Ho Quy Ly, this citadel is also known as Tay Do to distinguish from Dong Do (Thang Long - Hanoi). Ho Quy Ly moved the capital from Thang Long to Tay Do.

For more than 600 years of existence, most of the buildings inside the Citadel were destroyed. Traces of the foundations of the old palaces are hidden under the rice fields of the local people.

On June 27, 2011, at the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee of the Organization of Culture, Science and Education of the United Nations (UNESCO) held in Paris, the Citadel was recognized as the world's cultural heritage.